Living with Regrets
by Frosted Dreams
Summary: I may not have fought for the destruction of Voldemort but I am aware of the most common uses of Dark Arts and what their common symptoms and cures are. I think that if students need to learn about defense they should also be aware of their opponents
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer – I do not own anything.**

**Living with Regrets**

**Chapter One**

"Absolutely not."

"Mrs. Weasley, you must understand that he's the only applicant that is qualified. He out qualifies ever applicant by at least 6 years of working history."

Hermione Wealsey looked at the short balding man next to her. Normally she didn't think bad thoughts about Harold Gregoria but he has recently been nagging her about filling the two open Hogwarts' positions. She knew that there was a lack of applicants but she was not going to hire just anyone.

"And what position does _he_ want?" Hermione sarcastically said. She of course doesn't have full approval of who is hired but she does have some influence over the governors.

Harold hesitated before saying, "Umm…. I believe he wants to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor." Harold shifted his feet back and forth, waiting for Hermione's reaction. "Must I remind you that there is only a month left till the students go back to school and we have two empty positions that need to be filled as soon as possible."

Hermione didn't say anything. She tapped her quill upon her desk, wondering when her secretary became so nervy. He must be getting harassed more than she previously thought.

"Ah. I'm sure Draco Malfoy is perfect for that position." Hermione rolled her eyes and remembered what should have been her seventh year at Hogwarts. The damn boy caused more confusion by running away from everyone he saw than if he just stayed put.

Harold misunderstood her meaning and smiled up at Hermione with a look of astonishment.

"I'll set up the interview then. How about tomorrow at 2? You should be back from lunch by then." Harold left her a file and quickly exited the room to set up the meeting.

Hermione Weasley looked at the file on her desk and debated about setting it on fire. She let Harold set up the meeting because she was mostly curious as to why he wanted to be a teacher.

She decided to move the file out of her line of site by throwing it into a box that was next to her desk. She decided that she had more pressing issues to deal with, such as the Triwizard Tournament coming up and discussing which school would host.

"Hogwarts doesn't have the funds to host an additional 100 students this year…" Hermione mumbled to herself.

Since the end of Voldemort, enrollment to Hogwarts was still lower than what it was 8 years ago. Before he came back all of Wizard England had children in Hogwarts. Now it was a little over half. However it was beginning to grow as more and more previous Death Eaters were captured and convicted. But still far from safe.

A knock came from her office door and it opened before she could answer.

"Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy said that tomorrow was not convenient but that he could be here in five minutes to conduct the interview instead. I told him that your schedule was free so he took that as a sign to come here." Harold had his head stuck through the small crack in the door. Thinking it was a good idea to have the door blocking his body in case a curse was sent his way.

Hermione groaned and looked at her watch. It wasn't even noon yet and she was ready to go home. Hermione waved her hand at Harold as a dismissal and looked around for his file.

"Shit. Where did I put that damn thing? Accio Malfoy's file." It came soaring towards her from the box at the end of her desk. "Figures."

She flipped through the papers and sneered when she skimmed through the references that he managed to achieve.

**"Mr. Malfoy has my highest recommendation for a position to teach the minds of our youngest members of society. Hogwarts would be privileged to have such a talented wizard amongst their faculty and would be seen as a great asset to his colleagues considering his wide range of specialties."**

Hermione groaned as the letter continued describing the amazing talents of Draco Malfoy. He somehow managed to get 5 references from the top wizards/witches within the Ministry. Wondering how he got such great reviews when his reputation for not being able to work well with anyone was notorious.

She went through his working history that consisted of a couple of odd jobs for a socialite and for the last 5 years he has been working as a potion analyst for the Ministry. He analyzed potions before they went on the market.

"Mrs. Weasley? Mr. Malfoy is here."

"Send him in." Hermione looked up from her desk but did not stand.

Draco Malfoy walked in, pushing past Harold before he could invite him in. Hermione appraised Malfoy as he did the same. His overall appearance looked the same, just more matured. He of course was wearing expensive black robes that skimmed the ground. She thought fleetingly what he was thinking about her appearance.

"Please, sit." Hermione gestured to the wooden chair that was sitting in front of her. He undid his robes and placed it over the back of the chair before sitting. "Glad you could meet at such short notice"

"No problem. I apologize for rescheduling; tomorrow wasn't a good time for me. I wasn't going to be in the country and wouldn't return for a week." Malfoy watched her, hoping to see a slight disapproval for his arrogance in rescheduling a meeting on his terms.

"I do hope you won't be making that a habit if you are hired. We cannot have a professor continually be absent from classes because he has a prior engagement in the States." Hermione smiled sweetly. She looked over his working history thinking of a civil and appropriate question to ask him.

"Yes, well, if I recall Hogwarts did hire a werewolf for a year and he was missing for several days a month. I do not think that my engagements would be as time consuming or endangering to the students."

"Lupin was a special case." Draco snorted at this but didn't say anything else. "However that is in the past and considering that I would be the one issuing a salary you can wait till winter or summer break to have vacation. What position do you wish to seek?"

Draco knew that she was aware of the discipline he wished to teach but answered anyways.

"I was hoping for the open position of Defense Against the Dark Arts, however Potions has always been a part of my life as well."

"I can understand Potions considering your previous work as a analyst but what background do you have with defense?" Hermione smirked at Malfoy waiting to hear his response that she knew would not be satisfactory. Malfoy was the boy who was crying for his parents when Death Eaters stormed Hogwarts.

Malfoy smirked back. "Interesting that you should ask. See, I may not have fought for the destruction of Voldemort but I am aware of the most common uses of Dark Arts and what their common symptoms and cures are. I think that if students need to learn about defense they should also be aware of their opponents offense."

Hermione watched Malfoy with contempt. She knew that the governors would love this type of teaching method and would quickly hire him for DADA if she wasn't careful.

"I'm not sure allowing underage wizards practice the Dark Arts would be the wisest thing. You would have children sent to the infirmary every day and parents demanding your resignation. To be completely honest I think that Potions would be the best position for you if you were to get hired. You can still have your taste of defense by allowing students to make antidotes. Wouldn't you agree?"

Draco scowled but nodded.

"You are aware that being married sometimes causes problems for professors at Hogwarts. Is your wife supportive of your decision to teach students?" Hermione herself taught at Hogwarts for a year while trying to sustain a relationship with Ron and found that it was rather difficult to arrange meetings with one another when you had a thousand students to look after.

"She is aware of the lack of time we would be spending together. That is why I am taking this trip. I am helping her move to France not the States. Her mother lives there and needs someone to help her around the house. She has agreed to this arrangement." Malfoy didn't think it was necessary to mention the daily arguments that him and his wife had because of his desire to teach. But the end result was that she would be in France tomorrow without further complaint.

"You are rather confident that you will be hired. What makes you think that you will be?" Hermione was a little taken back at his arrogance. He was already shipping his wife off before even having an interview.

"Your secretary wasn't exactly tight-lipped when I dropped off my resume. He was rather excited and convinced that I would have a position. I hear that you are having trouble finding an appropriate replacement for either position." Malfoy's expression was bored yet amused at the look that Hermione was sending him. He knew that she was pissed that he had knowledge that cemented his claim to a seat at the high table in Hogwarts.

"I'm sorry, but I can no longer continue with these pleasantries. Why do you want a teaching position at Hogwarts? I've never known you to being the teaching type and not to bring up bad memories but you had a lack of defeating anything during the 7 years that I've known you." Hermione was tired of the charade that was this interview. She looked at him as he carefully chose his words.

Malfoy looked at Hermione and noticed that she showed all of her emotions on her face. He disliked people who couldn't hide their emotions. The workplace was not for emotional beings. They needed to leave their personal feelings and lives at home.

"Mrs. Weasley, I have no other reason to want to go to Hogwarts than to actually teach. Trust me, I'm not trying to hide a Horcrux within its walls. But I'm sure that you will have someone watching me, so I see no need to defend myself against your accusations." Malfoy had said this with a bored tone that hid is growing anger with the woman in front of him.

"I will bring your application to the board's meeting this Wednesday. You will hear from us by Friday." Hermione stood as a sign that the interview was over.

Malfoy stood and shrugged on his robes. "So, _Mrs. Weasley_, thank you for your unbiased evaluation of me and I hope that you will represent me to the governors in a fair light." Malfoy Disapparited before she could respond.

"Harold! You're fired!"

* * *

Hermione made her way through London to a safe Apparition point a couple of blocks away from her office. She managed to get through work without a secretary but it was rather annoying trying to find out what his abbreviations meant on her date book. 

She Apparited outside her house and silently debated about going inside. She didn't know if she was up to dealing with Harry and Ginny tonight. They have been staying with Ron and her since they sold their house. She loved the couple to death but it was just too much having them all in the same house. Hermione instead went around to the back and sat on a swing that was tied to a tree.

The sudden appearance of Draco Malfoy had peeved her. She felt that there was an ulterior motive for wanting to be at Hogwarts. Yet she couldn't think of anything that would drive him to want to teach at the school. He was a renowned analyst for the Ministry when it came to new potions but he wasn't known for his teaching abilities or even for liking many people that he had to work with. Not that Snape was the best option for a teacher either but he was there for different reasons. She would have to find a faculty member that was able to keep an eye on him.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Ron yelled from the patio. He didn't make a move to go down there in case she was upset with him. "Are you coming in or what? It's about to rain." He looked up at the clouded sky.

"It always rains, Ron." Hermione got off the swing and made her way to the back patio door. "Hey." Hermione gave him a quick kiss and then moved past him to enter the house.

"You okay?" Ron grabbed her arm before she made it into the kitchen.

"Yeah, just had a long day. That's all." He released her arm and she made her way into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

She could hear Harry and Ginny talking bout the type of kitchen they wanted and how many bedrooms were needed for their family. Hermione snorted, thinking that they were the only members of their family so far and felt it was pointless to plan a house based on future children. Ginny looked up when she heard the noise and smiled at Hermione.

"Hey." Hermione said with little enthusiasm. Ginny didn't catch this because she was once again arguing with Harry about bedroom sizes.

"So, what happened today?" Ron was behind her drinking a butterbeer. He made his way to the kitchen table and sat down waiting for an answer.

"Draco Malfoy applied for Defense Against the Dark Arts and he may not have a shot at that position but he'll most likely be hired for Potions. Now I know that the committee will decide he's a perfect candidate so I just have to find someone who's willing to keep an eye on him. Do you have any suggestions?" Hermione picked at her water bottle label not meeting Ron's eyes.

"Well, I think that bastard has some nerve but I don't think anyone at Hogwarts is able to keep an eye on him. McGonagall is too old and probably doesn't know what's going on. Neville is scared to death of Malfoy so that's a definite no." Ron hesitated before saying what he thought was the best solution. "Maybe you should take up the DADA position. You know that they've been asking you for years to teach again." Ron watched her for any reaction that said she agreed.

He didn't really care about Malfoy; he didn't think the bloke was up to anything of concern. He was more worried that she wanted to spend another year at Hogwarts. Previously it almost ruined their relationship when she was away for a year. They saw each other about 3 times in a 6-month period and the letters that were sent were not enough to keep him satisfied.

Hermione did not acknowledge that she heard him. She knew that he was silently pleading with her not to go. The thought hadn't crossed her mind until he mentioned it. She did want to teach again but Ron gave her an ultimatum, either you stay or you go back to Hogwarts without him. She decided to stay but always wondered what would have happened if she decided to stay.

"I haven't thought about it, Ron." Hermione got up and left Ron sitting there staring at her as she went to their bedroom.

* * *

"Hermione, come on." Ron next to her nudged her to get up. "Come on, if you are going to stay home at least turn off the damn alarm." Ron rolled over and hugged her from behind.

Hermione searched for the alarm that should have been next to her bed.

"Finite." The room grew silent. Hermione groaned and turned around so that she was facing Ron. "I cheated."

Ron smiled and gave her a kiss on her forehead and fell back to sleep quickly. Hermione finally got up and went to their bathroom that was connected to their room. After taking a quick shower she decided on letting her hair air dry and putting on some basic make-up. Today was the meeting with the governors and it always seemed to go well when she played the part of an attractive woman.

She left the bathroom and found Ron still asleep in the bed. His body was contorted in a weird angle. She remembered when they first started sleeping together and how he used to hit and kick her in the middle of the night. She would wake up with bruises the morning after. Hermione walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Love you." Hermione whispered. Ron did not stir but she wasn't expecting him to.

* * *

Hermione Apparited outside a stone building that didn't match the modern London buildings next to it. The odd structure didn't phase her; she just strolled to the door and entered. A young witch sat at the desk with a fake smile plastered on her face. 

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley. If you don't mind I will need your wand." She held out her hand expectantly. Hermione handed it over without any objections. This was a required security measure for the safety of everyone. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. The meeting has been changed to Room C." The young witch smiled and motioned towards the left where the room was located.

Hermione nodded and made her way quickly towards the meeting room. She was in front of the door when she noticed a house elf sitting on a chair across from the door. They looked at each other with curious eyes. Hermione gave a slight nod in acknowledgement but it continued to stare at her.

Hermione turned around and walked into the room and immediately noticed that it was empty. She looked down at her watch and realized that she was ten minutes early. She took a seat in the middle of the table and quietly wondered whose house elf was quietly waiting its master's return.

"I can't believe that you haven't changed at all. I mean, you would think that you might actually be late for something once in your life. Or god forbid, only five minutes early." Draco Malfoy was watching her from the far wall next to the door. He leaned against the wall in that arrogant fashion that all socialites seemed to be born with.

Hermione gave him a disapproving look. "Malfoy, this is supposed to be a closed meeting. I don't remember seeing your name on the list of attendees. And also, I do not believe that being early is a bad trait considering that I don't recall you ever being early."

"Let me ask you a question. Did you replace your secretary yet? Because if you have you may want to fire whoever it is because you should have received an updated list as to the attending members for today's meeting." Malfoy walked over and sat down across from her. He stared at her for a couple of minutes and noticed that she did not look the same as she did the other day. "What the hell did you do to your hair?"

"Fuck you." That was the best retort that Hermione could come up with at the time. She looked away from him and he chuckled loud enough for her to hear.

The door burst open and the 6 men walked in through the doors laughing amongst themselves.

"Ah, Hermione good to see you again. Draco, thank you for meeting us on such short notice. Considering that we have time constraints regarding Hogwarts I thought it best to just meet you now instead of conducting another meeting just to appoint you a position." Said Luke McKnight cheerily. He shook hands with both of them and sat down at the head of the table.

The other members filed in and sat down also.

"Okay, first I have had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Malfoy the other day about his position for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Considering that we are nearing the start of the school year I believe that Mr. Malfoy has all of the appropriate credentials needed. Are there any concerns with this decision?" McKnight looked around the table.

Malfoy didn't have to look around the table to know that there were concerns. All he had to do was look at Hermione who sat in front of him. He silently prayed that she would keep her mouth shut.

"Excuse me, I have a slight concern." Hermione heard Malfoy sigh across from her but she did not look at him. "It's just that even though I disagree with Mr. Malfoy's employment, I think that he is better suited for Potions, giving his previous experience." Hermione dared a look at Malfoy who was sitting back in his chair with his eyes closed.

"Ah, unless you are wishing to resume your teaching position as DADA teacher I see no reason to not allow Mr. Malfoy this position. I'm sure that you will be able to find a proper applicant for the Potions position within the next month."

Malfoy finally opened his eyes and looked at the witch across from him. He could tell she was arguing with herself about something. He didn't know much about her teaching year at Hogwarts. He assumed that she left a year later because of the curse that no one is able to stay there for more than one year. Obviously it was more than that.

"Ron is going to kill me." Hermione mumbled to herself. She looked up and noticed that Malfoy heard her. He was smirking in her direction and cocked an eyebrow. She wondered if sticking out her tongue would be seen as too childish.

"I'll do it!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed. Everyone at the table looked at her with questioning looks. Hermione realized that they have been talking about something else entirely. "Umm…I'll take the teaching position I mean."

"Excellent. I'm sure you will be pleased to be back in familiar territory, Hermione." McKnight smiled.

Hermione nodded and apologized for the interruption. A moment later a parchment was pushed in front of her with Malfoy's neat writing on it.

**Trying to keep an eye on me?**

Hermione rolled her eyes at the note but wrote back anyways.

**_Do I need to?_**


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer – Do not own anything.**

**Living with Regrets**

**Chapter Two**

Harry's birthday was always considered a special day. Even before the day he killed Voldemort, this day seemed to be different than the rest. Maybe it was because Harry never truly had a family that he could say was his own. This had a tendency to make people over compensate for his lack of relatives. Harry seemed to take in the attention but always with a sense of humbleness. Which always annoyed Draco Malfoy.

Of course, Draco Malfoy was never part of the festivities or even was aware that it was Harry Potter's birthday until after he killed Voldemort. The Daily Prophet tried to make it into a national holiday, as if celebrating his birthday was a reason not to show up at work.

Draco Malfoy thought all of this while he watched the smiling group of people. He had the misfortune of having chosen a restaurant that was hosting the _savior's_ party. This was the reason for his foul mood and the untouched food in front of him.

"Malfoy, you look like a puppy trying to reach his master. Stop staring." Blaise Zabini remarked in between bites.

"You annoy me sometimes." Malfoy finally looked away from the group after watching an emotional moment when Ginny gave Harry her present.

"But you were the one who invited me out as company. How's your wife?"

"Alive and well, I assume. Haven't spoken with her since I dropped her off with her mother." Malfoy finished his wine and motioned to the waiter to bring some more. "Leave the bottle."

"I'm sure she's anxiously awaiting your return. Planning on getting smashed?" Blaise questioned. When Draco nodded Blaise gave him a surprised look.

"Why?"

"Because I can and I've had a terrible month trying to get the manor in order before I leave. It's bad enough that the Ministry are keeping an annoyingly close watch on my financials." Draco finished off his second glass and began to pour another. He motioned to Blaise asking if he would like one as well.

"No, thank you. I thought your mother took care of that with Potter?" Blaise quietly asked. It was not common knowledge that Narcissa helped Harry by lying to Voldemort but it was also not hard to come to that conclusion.

"That is the only reason that I am here in front of you and not locked in a cell. However, the agreement was to only keep the family out of Azkaban, they didn't promise not to keep a close eye on us."

A loud crash followed by laughter could be heard throughout the room. Draco groaned and picked up his glass again.

"Harry! You're not allowed to do that! Harry!" Hermione yelped across the room.

Draco Malfoy couldn't help looking to his side to see what the man did. He was currently trying to convince the nearby patrons to move their tables over to make a dancing floor.

"Let's go over and give our birthday wishes before either one of you is too pissed drunk to remember that you are supposed to not hate one another." Blaise stood up and finished his drink and waited for Malfoy to stand. "Are you getting up?"

"Yeah."

Malfoy stood up and slightly stumbled from the wine. Blaise rolled his eyes and mumbled some obscenity under his breath.

"Speak up." Malfoy slightly slurred. He said it again to test himself; he seemed more drunk than he thought. He probably should have eaten his dinner and he looked back at his plate as it got farther away. Blaise caught him looking longingly at their table and smirked.

Soon they were at the head of the table and all eyes were on them. Harry Potter turned in his chair with a goofy grin on his face. Malfoy instantly thought that Harry looked terrible while drunk. His mood instantly brightened at the idea that the 'Harry Potter' looked like he was close to death at this moment. He looked at the other people sitting at the table and recognized most of them.

Blaise looked at Draco and then Harry knowing that neither one would be the first to speak.

"We wanted to come over and say happy birthday." Blaise said.

Harry didn't say anything and just looked at both of them with a blank stare.

"Thank you, Mr. Zabini. I apologize for Harry's lack of manners but he is not currently sober enough to accept any birthday wishes." Hermione said next to Blaise. She wasn't exactly sober either by the looks of the empty glasses in front of her.

Blaise nodded and motioned for Draco to step forward. When he made no motion to come forward, Blaise grabbed him and made him the focus of everyone around.

"Gra…I mean Weasley. I suppose that I shall tell you happy birthday for Potter, but I doubt that you have manners either. I'll just forgo saying happy birthday in general. I do hate being polite to people." Malfoy mumbled the last sentence to himself. Hermione, however, caught what he said.

Draco plopped down in the empty chair next to Hermione before anyone could object. Blaise, however, stood where he was and glanced around the table to make sure that no one was reaching for their wand.

"No, please sit." Hermione mumbled with sarcasm.

Draco noticed that her face was flushed due to the alcohol that she has had throughout the festivities, she didn't look much better than Potter. He barely glanced at Blaise as he conjured a chair to sit in next to Ginny.

"Speak up." Draco was proud that this time it did not come out slurred.

"Nothing, Malfoy." Hermione said louder. She grabbed the rest of her drink and drank it quickly.

"What the fuck is he doing in my seat?" Ron said behind them.

"Just having a drink with a colleague. No reason to get upset Weasley, my intentions are purely innocent." Draco slurred the last word and quietly repeated himself till he said it properly.

Hermione gave him a questioning look and did not say anything. She could not hear what he was saying and only assumed he was muttering something foul. She looked at Ron apologetically and motioned to the end of the table where his sister was sitting with Blaise.

When it was obvious that no one was going to speak first Blaise had to speak up again.

"So, Mrs. Weasley, are you excited about first day of classes?"

Everyone stopped what he or she was doing to stare at Hermione.

'I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood." Ron stared at Hermione. "What does he mean, Hermione?" Ron calmly asked which scared Hermione regardless of the alcohol running through her veins.

"I really do not know." Hermione whispered.

Draco looked to Blaise and gave him a what-did-you-do kind of look. Blaise shrugged.

"You're teaching at Hogwarts, aren't you? Or has someone else replaced you?" Blaise looked around, somewhat confused.

Hermione didn't mean Ron's eyes. She began playing with her napkin and the unanswered question seemed to hang in the air.

"Holy shit. You haven't told anyone." Malfoy started laughing hysterically. "You did not tell your husband that you will be leaving for Hogwarts in a couple of weeks." Malfoy looked at Hermione sitting next to him and noticed that she didn't find his sense of humor amusing.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Hermione whispered.

Ron walked up to Hermione and grabbed her out of her seat and dragged her to the front of the restaurant. Many patrons watched as he roughly grabbed her and Apparited just outside the doors.

* * *

"What is your problem?" Hermione said as soon as they got inside the house.

Ron slammed the door behind them and put a locking spell on the door with a flick of his wand.

"Guess?" Ron said sarcastically. "How long?"

"I don't know, a month or so."

"You've known for a month that you'll be going to Hogwarts but haven't said anything to me! I'm your husband!" Ron screamed. He kicked over the coffee table, sending magazines flying across the floor.

"And it looks like my husband is acting like a spoiled child." Hermione screamed back. She went to pick up the magazines.

Ron grabbed her wrist and pushed her back and shoved her into the wall.

"Don't you fucking call me a child. You're the one who didn't tell me that you were leaving in two weeks. When were you planning on doing this?" Ron stood a foot away from her, keeping within her personal space so that he could reach for her if she tried to leave.

"Tonight."

"That's convenient."

"This is why I didn't want to tell you. Since you've become an Auror you've had anger problems. This added on to your existing anger issues have caused you to be sweet and loving one moment to violent the next." Hermione tried to push Ron out of her way but he stepped forward and slammed her back against the wall. Hermione saw the pictures next to her rattle.

"Don't you dare blame this on me. As if you are scared of me and what I could say or do. I haven't forgotten what you're capable of and how cunning you can be." Ron whispered into her ear while holding her arms tighter. "You will not blame me for you're lack of courage or your shitty attempt at being a wife."

Hermione remained silent.

"You will not go and that's final." Ron leaned back and grabbed her chin roughly so that he could look into her eyes.

"You don't own me, Ron. I'm leaving in two weeks. If you want to act this way till I leave that's fine. However, I will not have a husband that makes demands that he himself would not follow." Hermione managed to grab her wand from her back pocket and stun Ron before he noticed. "I suggest you cool down and speak with Harry about defensive moves. I believe it may be embarrassing to your co-workers if they knew about this."

* * *

Hermione just finished putting the rest of her items into her bag when a light knock sounded at the door.

"Hey." Ginny peeked around the corner. "You leaving today?"

"Yeah."

All teachers had to arrive two weeks before the students just to assure everyone was acclimated before having to watch over students.

Ginny walked into the room and sat down on the bed. They both felt the awkwardness in the room but neither one was going to be the first to mention it.

"I'll see you at Christmas. I'm not planning on staying there unless I'm needed." Hermione said distractedly. She was currently writing a letter to Ron giving him her holiday schedule in case he feels forgiving.

"Right. It'll be at Mum's this year. She's rather excited, George will be there and he's promised to have a date by then."

"He's already looking for a date? It's only August."

"I know." Ginny laughed. "You know George. He most likely has plenty of dates to choose from. Mum threatened to arrange a marriage if he doesn't settle down soon. I think she's a little upset that Bill and Fleur are the only ones who are having children."

Hermione smiled and didn't comment on the fact that having children right now was the last thing she was thinking about…and hopefully Ron wasn't thinking about that either.

"She's getting impatient. I went out to lunch with her the other day and she was complaining how old she was getting and how she could die at any moment. Then dropped a few hints about babies."

"That woman will never die." Ginny said. "How are you getting to Hogsmeade?"

"Oh, I'm scheduled to Floo out at 4. I have about ten minutes or so to finish getting ready." Hermione looked at the wall clock and mentally kicked herself for not noticing the time earlier.

"Well, I will see you off." Ginny got up and grabbed her bag and walked out of the room.

Hermione picked up her letter and put it on Ron's side of the bed. They haven't talked since Harry's birthday and have somehow managed different sleeping schedules so that neither one of them had to deal with the awkward silence before falling asleep.

Once Harry and Ginny made it back they did mention that Malfoy and George got into a fight. Malfoy made a joke about George's non-existing ear and George made some crack about family orgies and they were soon punching one another and trying to hex each other. This cheered up Hermione at the time but shortly after Harry managed to revive Ron who immediately got up and threw a lamp that was on the table next to him.

Hermione exited the room and went into the living room where there was a fire already going.

"I know it's none of my business but what you did to Ron was pretty shitty. But, you're like a sister so I've managed to look at it from your point of view and I hope everything goes as planned this year." Ginny quickly said. She shifted her feet and looked at the fire and didn't seem to mind the additional heat to the room.

Hermione knew that this was a type of apology and didn't think it necessary to point out that she didn't actually apologize.

"Thank you, Ginny. Say bye for Harry for me." Hermione walked up to Ginny and quickly hugged her and then went to the fireplace and grabbed the Floo powder.

"The Three Broomsticks!" With a flash of green, Hermione disappeared.

* * *

"Damn it, Weasley. Can you keep track of time at all?" A voice mumbled from above her. After leaving her house she slammed into someone who was still in the fireplace she was trying to enter.

The person put his hand on her chest and pushed himself up. Not caring that he put his full weight on her.

"Sorry." Hermione said before the unexpected weight pushed the air out of her lungs. She started coughing hard trying to regain her breath.

The man stepped over her body and went to pick up his bags. Hermione could hear him say something to Rosmerta and then exit the pub.

"Hermione, dear, you might want to get up. Someone will be entering within the next five minutes."

Hermione nodded and got up off the ground. She went to pick up her bags and quickly left before making a bigger fool out of herself.

It was warm outside and Hermione chose to walk to Hogwarts instead of taking a carriage. She was halfway down the street when someone shoved her and pushed her into a wall. She lost her breath the second time in less than five minutes and it caused her to start coughing again.

"Stop coughing. You have my bag." Hermione managed to look up at the man who rudely pushed her into the wall. She was not that surprised to find Malfoy looking back at her expectantly.

"I don't have you're bag." Hermione said stupidly.

Malfoy grabbed the black bag out of her hand and replaced it with a green one. He rolled his eyes and walked away quickly.

"Hey!" Hermione yelled and ran to catch up with him. Once she got to him she grabbed his arm and spun him around to look at her. When he spun around she forgot what she wanted from him and just mumbled something instead.

"What?" Malfoy drawled and then looked at the carriage waiting behind them. When it was obvious she wasn't going to explain herself he shrugged her hand off his arm and went to the carriage without looking back.

"I liked him better when he's drunk…actually when we're both drunk." Hermione mumbled to herself.

She looked down at the newly placed bag in her hand and saw that it had a family crest on it. She rolled her eyes and debated about returning his bag back to him and then comment on his stupidity of exchanging his bag, just to get his again in return. Hermione decided that she would take her time and make her way to Hogwarts like originally planned. She only had books within the bag that he still had and there was no reason to search him out to get it back.

Thinking of Malfoy's annoyance when he realized that she still had made Hermione skip her way towards Hogwarts. Then stopped a few minutes into it thinking that seeing a 25-year-old woman skipping was never a good sight.


End file.
